Finally- peaceful mothering!

It has happened. My mom is off on her five week trip to India. For all the hand-wringing about how-will-we-cover-childcare, it has turned out GREAT. Know why? Because I can put a dress on in the morning and not be told I look a lot less fat in this one than yesterday's. Because I can feed my child - and myself- whatever the hell I think is good and not be second-guessed or criticized. Because I can walk around without a fight being picked every ten seconds.

HALLELUJAH!!! My mom is out of the country, y'all!!

Yes, it is that bad. I'm slowly realizing how much utter crap I've been putting up with for years now, but especially the last months when we've been living here in the 'burbs with my parents to save. Financially, this is going to be worth it. We're planning to buy a home in beautiful Berkeley, which is still ridiculously expensive and utterly worth it to us. Not everyone loves Berkeley, but I'd venture to say that many people also don't really know it.

For those who don't know Berkeley, or only know of the Free Speech Movement or the campus area-- it is beautiful, and kid-friendly, free of tacky-ass McMansions but with homes built by real architects, and easy access to SF, fantastic bookstores and truly fabulous clothing and shoe boutiques (I don't want Nordstrom or other big boxes when I can get one of a kind quality goods at boutiques like Riki, Lava 9 and Earthly Goods. One of a kind artisan quality is also why I'm a huge window shopper at etsy.com).

I could go on but suffice it to say this is where we want home base to be. Yeah, there's crime, self-important asses, fog, and parking hassles. Yet, here in the 'burbs is where my car got broken into, not in Berkeley. (!) There are way too many self-important asses everywhere. The heat can be HORRID (and gives my mom the excuse she always wants to keep the every single window SHUT, every shade pulled, and to sit depressedly in the dark- yeah, it sucks). And it's nice to live where there are too many fun places to eat and shop and not enough places to park, than where there's too much parking for a few crappy strip mall stores.

Ok, SO! Four more weeks of freedom. Then dear readers, who knows what will happen. Perhaps she'll return from India transformed. Perhaps not. All I know is, at least I'll have this sweet sweet memory.